Primary '95.

Some Wards Still Face Runoffs

While many incumbent Chicago aldermen seemed to be cruising to easy victories in Tuesday's election, it also appeared that there will be a second round of balloting in some of the most closely watched races.

Runoffs in several wards will extend the 1995 election season for another five weeks in those contests.

In order to win an outright victory Tuesday, a candidate had to receive a majority of the votes cast. But with turnout at a near record low, there were several wards where only a few votes could make the difference in percentage points to determine whether a runoff will be necessary.

Ward runoffs, where necessary, will be held on April 4 between the two top vote-getters from Tuesday's balloting.

Early returns indicated that wards where runoff elections will be held include the 3rd, where incumbent Ald. Dorothy Tillman was struggling to hold off two major challengers, Wallace "Gator" Bradley, a candidate backed by a street gang, and former Ald. Tyrone Kenner-both convicted felons.

And, in the hotly contested 10th Ward race on the city's Far South Side, incumbent Ald. John Buchanan seemed to be headed for a runoff with his longtime political nemesis, Clem Balanoff.

Seemingly headed for lopsided victories were some friends and some foes of Mayor Richard Daley, who was renominated to another term in the Democratic primary Tuesday.

Ald. John Steele (6th), one of Daley's chief critics among the tiny independent City Council bloc, was pulling down a huge margin over his challenger, Julia Walls, a prot eg e of former Mayor Eugene Sawyer. But so was Ald. Lorraine Dixon (8th), Daley's chief African-American supporter on the council.

And Ald. Helen Shiller (46th), who has never had an easy race in her lakefront ward, seemed to have no trouble staving off the challenge of Democratic ward committeeman Bob Kuzas this time around. The mellowing of the still independent Shiller won newspaper endorsements never received before, and apparently, a majority of the voters in her ward as well.

But in the closely watched 42nd "Superward" race, incumbent Ald. Burton Natarus was having a tough time garnering a majority of the votes and appeared likely to end up in a runoff contest with Dennis O'Neill, who was running second ahead of the other challenger, Kevin Flood, according to incomplete unofficial returns. The new 42nd Ward encompasses almost all of downtown Chicago.

Early returns also showed incumbent Ald. Margaret Laurino (39th), who was appointed by Daley to replace her father, council dean Anthony Laurino, was fighting to win a majority in her first bid for election to the post. Although her major challenger, Anthony Fornelli, a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, was running a distant second, it appeared the other four candidates on the ballot could drain off enough votes to force a Laurino-Fornelli runoff.

Another Daley appointee, Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), who was named to replace her late husband, Lemuel Austin, was hovering around the majority 50 percent mark, with challenger Ernie Terrell, the former heavyweight boxing champion, looming on the runoff horizon.

One incumbent who appeared to be losing was Ald. Jesse Miller from the West Side 24th Ward. He was trailing Michael Chandler, although the final outcome might result in a runoff between the two because two other candidates were collecting small vote totals.

Eleven incumbent aldermen faced no challengers in Tuesday's election, guaranteeing their re-election to full four year terms.

Although the results of the aldermanic elections are not expected to have much effect on Daley's already tight grip on the Chicago City Council, it will mark the first time in history that a majority of the 50 members will be from minority factions.

When all the votes are counted, including those cast to decide runoff elections, the council is expected to have at least 19 African-Americans and 7 Hispanics.

But Daley has been winning an increasing amount of loyalty from several African-American aldermen, and on most issues, all of the current four Hispanic aldermen. That has helped produce lopsided favorable votes for his positions on most recent projects and initiatives.

It is a situation not expected to change substantially when the new City Council is sworn in next May.